Well we got hit really hard with the MONSOONS yesterday, and my buddy Luis ,AKA
Sidepockets , Hydro Locked his motor !!! and it's HOSED!!!!!! wont even turn over with a wrench
The bypass valve on his cold air didnt work !!!!!, Kinda scary cause I run the same intake (AEM non Toyota) .................

I wonder if AEM will stand by their claim that with the bypass valve you wont hydro lock?
I also wonder if the dealer will do anything for him it only has 30k on it ???
We had it towed to one of my friends shops and he said his Insurance will cover it ,but I think AEM should step upwith his $500 deductable, what do you guys think ?????
wingsaseagles

 

sorry bro that sucks... but try a little backwoods tech.... pull all 4 plugs and try to turn the motor over with the plugs out......

 

Thats the first thing we tried .............even with the plugs out it wont turn over,I can get it to move with a socket on the lower pulley but it locks up again !!!!!!
wings

 

damn....best of luck to him

 

Rods are bent, it's a toasted motor. The AEM bypass valve needs to be maintained (of course they won't tell you that). Probably with each oil change, remove the bypass, clean the foam and oil it, and put some armor all or something on the rubber to keep it flexible. The foam has been known to degrade, then get sucked into the motor. The rubber gets stiff over time as well.

FYI fellow desert rats, if your motor dies after driving through a puddle...DO NOT try to restart it. Tow it home, pull the spark plugs, spray WD-40 into the cylinders, wait a while, drain the oil. Then refill the oil and put the plugs back in and try to start it. If it still doesn't start...well you tried at least

 

The 8 ball xB is MIA??? Thats lame. I hope all the problems Iron themselves out and he'll be rollin in no time

 

That is not good, sorry for your friends loss, I would call AEM. Ask for Greg in tech, he is really cool, he is the head engeener for them. He should be able to ge the answers for you.

 

Thanks , Kelly
We will contact AEM as this cold air has only been on the xB for about 15K and I service the filter and clean the bypass for him every 5K.......

What I need to know is if it was a TRD cold air and it Hydro Locked would it be covered???
And Does Toyota have to put it on like someone told me , cause I got into a situation when I was service manager for Harley where a customer had installed a Screamin Eagle ignition module himself (Harley High perf part) and blew his motor ,it had a built in rev limiter, so I called the factory and they denied the claim.
The customer got an Lawyer and contacted us and the factory and the lawyer brought in a copy of the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act, and the factory repalced his motor.
SOO what do we do run TRD or no Cold Air or dont drive in the rain (that would suck for me cause half the time I'm out of town and have to drive rain or shine)

If I have to go back to stock to be safe I will but it sure does look FUNKY !!!!!

Anybody got any ideas ????

wingsaseagles

 

That sucks, I took my cold air pipe out a week ago cause I didn't kow what the weather would be like in Cali, but Cali was fine I didn't hit rain till just before I got back to PHX, stupid monsoons. I'm leaving it out till at least august

 

Man, makes me wanna take my AEM cold air out and go back to stock..Too many horror stories reference hydro-locked motors...

 

I didn't know a cold air intake would do that. That's kind of scary... Maybe I don't want one.

 

short ram is a good alternative. I got mine because my parents live on the far northeast side of Tucson and when I was a kid there were many times we had to drive through water to get home.

 

Wade, try contacting Bryan. He did a similar thing last year and may be able to give you guys some advice... Sorry to bring up the bad memories, B!

 

WELL ,
I contacted AEM today and they basically told me to POUND SAND !!!! "I've never heard of that happening before" "Our head engineer submersed his air cleaner in water and it did'nt suck up any water" "So you must have installed it wrong ,"those are direct quotes from the TECH GUY.............not the pound sand part,but I coulda sworn he said it in his tweaked little mind.

THATS IT !!!!! I am now on an ANTI AEM campaign if a company wont stand behind it's product then F&*%$ em !!!!!!!!!!
Off comes my AEM cold air and I will proudly display it @ shows with a little story about how good the BYPASS valve worked...........

wingsaseagles /AKA ____ED OFF FORMER AEM CUSTOMER.
BLOG TIME !!!!!

I think AEM should now stand for Advanced Engine Manglers

 

wow!!!

 

Unbelievable!!!! I was wondering which company to go with and now I know it won't be AEM. You should put something up in the Owner's Lounge or something. Let the whole country know how they treated you. Then after a bunch of post are put up about how no one will buy their product now, e-mail AEM the link and thank them for their support... That might change their answer, doubt it, but maybe.

 

I am glad you shared this with us Wade, I will definitly not buy AEM. Sorry hear that it was the cause of some mager damage for your friend.